Course Details

Introduction to Population and Community Ecology

Lectures, precepts, and self-guided field work. We shall examine interactions of organisms, ecosystems, and biomes with their physical environment, e.g., temperature and dynamics of water and air. We shall explore the dynamics and regulation of single-species populations, followed by interactions between pairs of species, e.g., competition, mutualism, predation, parasitism, and herbivory. Finally, we shall consider the structure and dynamics of whole communities of plants and animals, including interactions with humans, e.g., dependence, exploitation, management, and conservation.

Sample reading list:Molles,
Ecology, 4th editionWilliams,
The Nature HandbookKricher & Morrison,
A Field Guide to Eastern ForestsHorn,
Plain Talk About Research in Field BiologyPrimary literature,
See instructor for complete list

Reading/Writing assignments:
About 75 pp. of reading per week. Formal written lab reports on 4 field projects, due every 2-3 weeks. These projects will be introduced at the beginning of lab period, and students complete the necessary field work during lab time or other time as weather and schedules permit. A term project: collected images or artifacts of 20 species of either birds or trees, with natural history notes and a short essay.

Other information:
The details of the course may change, but the spirit and general content are as described. In particular, the order of topics will generally follow the text, but will be modified to take advantages of seasonal observations outdoors near campus.